Closing Thoughts for Memorial Day
Something to ponder:
The Americans who have fallen in battle, and especially those who have fallen since 9/11, demand more from us than our pity. Their sacrifice demands that we live up to the values for which they gave their lives. Their memory demands that we embrace the generosity with which they placed themselves in harm’s way for our sake and that we dedicate ourselves to the values of liberty and toleration whose banners they followed to the end of the world.
Memorial Day must also be a day of dedication; if the dead do not inspire us, we have not grasped the meaning that shaped their lives.
2 comments:
This goes to the premise of my 10th anniversary of OIF posts:
The question that is being asked the most about the Iraq mission is the leading question, Was it worth it? Due to the popular misconceptions about the Iraq mission, however, I believe the most important question on this anniversary still is the contextual, Why Iraq?
Why are OIF/OEF vets "pitied" while WW2 vets are exalted? WW2 was brutal and traumatic for our soldiers, too, especially in North Africa and the whole Pacific theater. In fact, many more soldiers were killed and wounded in WW2.
The difference is the public perception of the 'Why We Fight'. I want the American people to know that the mission of our soldiers after 9/11 was as justified, noble, and honorable as, and more humane than, any in our history.
Those who died doing their duty, died in a good cause, for the right reasons.
Absolutely.
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